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Man charged with murder in West End Park slaying

Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide Unit investigators work the scene of a shooting that occurred around 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the 3200 block of 8th Street near West End Park. The altercation involved two men, one man is dead and the other is wounded and has not yet been apprehended.

Dusty Compton | Tuscaloosa News

By Stephanie TaylorStaff Writer

Published: Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 3:56 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 3:56 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | A 19-year-old man has been charged with murder in connection with a Thursday afternoon shooting in the 3200 block of Eighth Street near West End Park.

<p>TUSCALOOSA | A 19-year-old man has been charged with murder in connection with a Thursday afternoon shooting in the 3200 block of Eighth Street near West End Park.</p><p>At around 2:45 p.m., Tuscaloosa police and homicide investigators responded to a report of a shooting on Eighth Street, according to Capt. Loyd Baker, commander of the Tuscaloosa County Homicide Unit.</p><p>Baker said that officers found the victim, 27-year-old Rico Barnes, with multiple gunshots wounds in the front yard of a residence. </p><p>Barnes was taken to DCH Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Baker said.</p><p>Witnesses said the suspected gunman, 19-year-old Laranden Dewayne Perry, shot Barnes and then fled, according to Baker.</p><p>Perry later turned himself in to police at a relative's house.</p><p>Perry was taken into custody and is being treated for an injury to his hand. </p><p>He is charged with murder and his bond has been set at $75,000 bond.</p><p>The witnesses said that the men ran to the area from Cherokee Avenue just off Stillman Boulevard, Baker said.</p><p>Investigators laid at least 10 evidence markers along Eighth Street that marked a trail of blood that witnesses said came from the suspect's injured hand.</p><p>Police blocked the street with yellow crime scene tape as children returning home from school walked past to their homes. </p><p>Dozens of people, many of them school-aged children, gathered in nearby West End Park to watch police.</p>